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REVIEW article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Respiratory Pharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1516200

Silicosis: From pathogenesis to therapeutics

Provisionally accepted
Bijun Yang Bijun Yang 1Xiaoman Liu Xiaoman Liu 1Cheng Peng Cheng Peng 2Xiangjing Meng Xiangjing Meng 1Qiang Jia Qiang Jia 1*
  • 1 Shandong Academy of Occupational Health and Occupational Medicine, Jinan, China
  • 2 Eusyn Health Institute (EHI), Brisbane, Australia, Brisbane, Australia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Silicosis is an important occupational lung disease caused by exposure to respirable crystalline silica dust particles, with the clinical manifestations from asymptomatic forms to respiratory failure. The main pathological process involves parenchymal lung injury, inflammation and lung tissue fibrosis, but the exact pathogenesis remains elusive. Until now, there have been no effective treatments for silicosis due to the complexity of pathogenesis and irreversibility of pulmonary fibrosis. In this review we attempt to summarize the advances in pathogenesis and treatment of silicosis and to explore the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms involving in the initiation and development of silicosis and potential therapeutic targets.

    Keywords: Silicosis, Pathogenesis, Therapeutics, lung fibrosis, Molecular mechanisms

    Received: 24 Oct 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Liu, Peng, Meng and Jia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Qiang Jia, Shandong Academy of Occupational Health and Occupational Medicine, Jinan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.